Jared Nomak (Earth-26320)
| Death = | HistoryText = Nomak is a genetically modified vampire, the first semi-successful result of an experiment to create vampires capable of withstanding sunlight. He is also the patient zero of the Reaper Strain, a mutated vampiric virus that turned vampires into Reapers. His vampirism evolved into a stage in which he fed off vampires as well as humans, favoring vampires as prey. Blaming his father, Eli Damaskinos, for his evolution, he became a renegade and set out for revenge, transforming others into Reapers to help him along the way. The vampire elder, Eli Damaskinos, grew concerned about the Reapers' growing numbers, and made a deal with vampire hunter, Blade. Blade was to take Damaskinos' elite pack of killers, the Bloodpack, who were originally trained to slay Blade, to hunt and kill Nomak and his pack of Reapers. Their initial confrontation occurred at a vampire nightclub where Nomak's reapers fought the Bloodpack while Nomak himself confronted Blade and Nyssa. Nomak offered Blade an alliance after sparing Nyssa's life, saying "Is the enemy of my enemy my friend... or my enemy?" Blade replied by shooting him in the head but to no avail due to Nomak's superior regenerative abilities, and Nomak was able to escape. The Bloodpack regrouped and then tracked Nomak and his reapers into the sewers, although Nomak again evaded them while his Reapers fought the hunters. Confronting Whistler, who had become separated from the others, Nomak revealed that Damaskinos had designed the Reaper Strain and tested it on his own son, himself. Nomak was the son of the vampire overlord and brother of Nyssa. He also handed Whistler a family signet ring bearing the crest of the house of Damaskinos before departing. Nomak evaded further attempts to stop him, eventually reaching his father and killed him before biting his sister Nyssa to "complete the circle". Blade finally reached Nomak, and both faced off in an intense physical battle with Nomak having much of the upper hand. Eventually, Blade found a weak spot where Nomak's heart was only armoured at the front and back, and jammed his sword beneath Nomak's arm, to bypass the bone protecting Nomak's heart. Nomak fell to his knees and said, "It's strange. It hurts... it hurts no more," referring to the burning pain he constantly feels as a result of his reaper virus, before jamming the entire sword within his heart, killing himself in the process and ending his pain. | Powers = All vampires share common superhuman abilities regardless of whether they were born a vampire, or were once human and were subsequently turned into a vampire. The only exceptions are vampire offshoots such as half-vampires and those who are carriers of the Reaper Strain. Nomak being patient zero of the reaper strain, his vampiric powers have all been dramatically increased and most of the hereditary weaknesses have been removed. *'Vampirism:' Vampirism is the physiological act of becoming and/or turning another human being into a vampire. Despite its roots in European folklore, vampirism exists in nature, and there are many such creatures who are actually born as vampires. Pathologically, vampirism is likened to a virus, carried in the saliva of predators. The vampire enzyme is carried through a victim's bloodstream and within seventy-two hours, mutates the subject's physiology, creating new parasitic organs. It has been described as "cancer with a purpose". Reaper vampires have had their blood lust dramatically increased, treating it as a drug addict would. As a new strain of vampirism they are also capable off infecting ordinary vampires as well as humans, the infection has been accelerated to the point where they turn in the space of a few minutes. *'Immortality:' Vampires are immortal creatures whose bodies cease to physically age beyond a certain point. Pure-blood vampires will age into adulthood, while turned vampires maintain the physical form they had when they were still human. Theoretically, a vampire can live forever providing that it is not destroyed. *'Metamorphosis:' Vampires possess a limited degree of metamorphosis or the ability to shape-shift. Unlike the creatures of popular fiction, vampires cannot transform into bats, or wolves or mist. A vampire can only alter his appearance into one of two forms: a vampire's natural form is that of an inhuman, monstrous creature, with exaggerated facial features, sharp canine fangs, claws and blood-red eyes. With a sufficient supply of blood in their bodies, vampires can alter their appearance to make themselves resemble normal humans. In the case of turned vampires, they look as they did prior to becoming a vampire. This is a useful tool, as it enables a vampire to operate amongst humans without giving itself away. While assuming a human mien, a vampire may voluntarily reveal slight vampiric features, such as fangs or red eyes. Reaper vampires possess albino white skin and red eyes at all times. They have segmented jaws that open laterally to form a powerful gripping apparatus, and a mutated leech-like tongue muscle with barbed tendrils at the end. *'Superhuman Strength:' Most vampires possess superhuman physical strength anywhere from 10 to 20 times greater than they possessed in their mortal lives. The vast majority of known and recorded vampires are capable of lifting from 1,000 lbs to 4,000 lbs. A vampire's enhanced strength also enables them to perform other superhuman feats such as leaping great distances. Supplementing their strength, vampires are naturally heartier than normal humans and can withstand severe physical exertion with no ill effects. Reapers appear to have a marginal advantage over vampires in power-to-weight ratio, although due to their emaciation their full potential is never realized. Nomak however, does not carry this deficiency and is noticeably stronger than most vampires. *'Superhuman Durability:' With the exception of certain restrictions, vampires are essentially invulnerable to most forms of bodily harm, including the effects of disease, and the natural cellular mitosis that comes with ageing. Vampires are not living creatures, and as such, they do not require oxygen to breathe. Vampires can exist without undue stress in oxygen free environments such as being submerged under water or buried beneath the earth. Excessive force will cause physical damage to a vampire, but their bodies will regenerate damaged tissue providing they can supplement themselves with regular supplies of blood. Reapers are considerably tougher still, and have been capable of surviving a full penetration of the torso through the abdomen and sliced down through the groin without succumbing to pain and barely being slowed by the trauma. A severed piece of head was still able to blink an eye and a reaper corpse even demonstrated an attempt to absorb blood that was introduced to it. *'Superhuman Reflexes:' A vampire's reflexes, agility and reaction time are many times greater than a normal human being. At maximum optimal capacity, a vampire can move more quickly than the human eye can perceive. As Patient Zero of the Reaper Strain, Nomak possesses greater endurance and the ability to think and communicate that the other Reapers did not possess; he was also able to control his hunger, to the point where he passed up an easy opportunity to feed on Whistler where the average Reaper would have just torn his throat out. | Abilities = *'Intelligence:' Unlike most Reapers, who regress to a feral mentality upon transformation, Jared still retained his original level of intelligence, able to make plans, adopt an almost philosophical perspective on his transformation, and control his hunger, to the point that he offered Blade an alliance and spared Whistler to deliver a message to Blade where any other Reaper would have simply torn Whistler's throat out. *'Expert Hand to Hand Combatant:' While he lacked any kind of formal combat training, Jared was shown on multiple occasions to be an extremely ferocious fighter, easily capable of overwhelming skilled fighters like Blade, who was a highly skilled martial arts master. Jared's fighting style seems like a combination of street fighting and wrestling, relying on his brute strength and almost animal like ferocity to overwhelm his opponent. | Strength = *'Superhuman Strength'. | Weaknesses = Despite the fact most of the hereditary weaknesses have been removed, Jared Nomak was still concerned by the following weaknesses: *'Hematophagia:' Vampires require the consumption of human blood for nourishment and to maintain their existence. The required dosage of blood per vampire depends upon their overall strength and vitality, though most vampires need to feed at least once per evening. Older, more powerful vampires will sometimes require more blood than lesser vampires in order to maintain their health. The most common form of extraction is by biting a human victim upon the neck, usually on the jugular vein where the blood is freshest. Failure to consume human blood at regular intervals may produce a variety of effects. Vampires may suffer a loss of vitality and cohesion and they will find it more difficult to maintain a human mien. If enough time has passed without nourishment, a vampire may enter a "blood frenzy" wherein they will act on primal instinct and take what they need from the closest available source, regardless of the consequences. Most Reapers will begin to burn out if deprived of blood for a few hours, with Blade and the Bloodpack speculating that the Reapers will die out twelve hours after they are created, Nomak only surviving so long due to his status as the original Reaper. *'Ultraviolet Radiation:' The vampire's greatest enemy is the power of the sun. Minimal exposure is known to cause great discomfort, even pain, but direct exposure to ultraviolet radiation is instantly fatal. Vampires are at their most vulnerable during daylight hours, and must sequester themselves in environments completely cut off from all natural light sources. When exposed to direct UV radiation, a vampire's body will blister, burn and disintegrate into ash within seconds. Nomak has a higher tolerance for UV radiation than normal vampires, although he is not immune to its effects and will quickly blister and burn when subjected to it. *'EDTA:' Short for ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, EDTA is an anti-coagulant that reacts explosively to vampire physiology. Like silver nitrate and garlic extract, EDTA can be weaponized and used as a reliable offensive measure against vampires. While this proves lethal to normal vampires, it merely results in an agonizing and temporary infection when injected into Nomak. He has demonstrated the ability to recover from the effects in seconds. | Equipment = | Transportation = | Weapons = | Notes = | Trivia = | Marvel = | Wikipedia = | Links = }} Category:Superhuman Reflexes Category:Superhuman Strength Category:Fangs Category:Insanity Category:Superhuman Agility Category:2002 Character Debuts Category:Suicide Category:Genetically Engineered